Protector
by romancequeen01
Summary: Shino is determind to convince Sakura that he is worthy of her. He is determind to be there for her through everything. When she goes off with Naruto and Shikamaru to save Sasuke and Gaara attacks her...will her save her? SakuraXShino
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! I donno why but I am obsessed with the chunien exams! Almost all of my stories and ideas how some aspect of them in them. In this story Sakura already trained with Lady Tsunade, but Tsunade is not hokage yet. All matches are the same they are just out of order. Sakura didn't show her true powers in her match against Ino because she didn't want to hurt her friend.

Chapter One:

Shino stood alongside Kiba at the top of the balcony and watched as their teammate battled Neji during the second stage of the exams. Hinata was his teammate he didn't want her to get hurt but he wasn't about to jump in like Kiba and Naruto. Speaking of Naruto, the person standing beside him was probably the only person who sparked his interest, but of course he would never say anything. Sakura Haruno, the pink haired kunoichi, the person who plagued his dreams for quite some time now. Shino was so preoccupied with his thoughts he hadn't noticed three sensei's stepped in as Hinata fell to the ground. Naruto was at her side in a second, as Hinata coughed Kurini rushed to her as she called to get some medics. At this point Sakura had come down to the arena. Shino was shocked, he hadn't even seen her move. She waved off the medics, Kurini glared at her like she was insane. Sakura tied up her hair as she knelt down to Hinata, she placed her ear to Hinata's chest as she coughed again. Sakura's eyes went wide,

"_She's going into cardiac arrest, if you move her now her lungs will collapse. "_

She said flatly. The medics stood beside her, mouths open,

"_How could she know all that without an examination?"_

One of them whispered. With that Shino smiled, not that anyone could see, but apparently not everyone knew that Sakura trained with Lady Tsunade. Sakura's hand glowed green, she placed it down gently on Hinata's wounded chest. Hinata hissed in pain.

"_Relax Hinata this will take a while."_

Hinata only looked at her and closed her eyes, about fifteen minutes later Sakura's hand stopped glowing,

"_She should be stable enough to move now but you must be quick about it."_

She exclaimed to the medics as she stood up. The nodded and took Hinata away. Sakura turned to walk away when she heard a chuckle come from behind her. She turned only to find Neji laughing. Naruto got pissed,

"_What the hell is so funny?"_

Neji simply stared at Sakura and exclaimed,

"_Do you really think you helped her? You just prolonged her suffering, those blows were designed to kill, she will not survive."_

Sakura simply smiled at him and answered,

"_Well it's a good thing that I already knew that…"_

As she turned to walk away. Neji was not the person you turn your back on. He ran at Sakura, about to strike. Shino gripped the balcony bar and was about to rush in when Kakashi grabbed Neji and threw him to the ground in front of Gui.

"_That's enough Neji!"_

Gui exclaimed. With that Shino relaxed. Kiba noticed this out of the corner of his eye and was about to question it but decided not to. Sakura walked back up the stairs to where she was standing before. She walked past Shino and Kiba, as she did Shino's face turned a slight shade of pink, he followed her with his eyes, the parts of his eyes which were visible Kiba noticed were staring at her. Kiba looked back and forth between Shino and Sakura,

"_Whoa…you serious?"_

Kiba laughed, Shino just stared at him, confused,

"_You like Sakura?"_

Shino's face got darker, Kiba laughed,

"_No way! Hey Sakura!"_

He called to the pinkette. She turned just in time to see Shino throw Kiba over the balcony. She looked at Shino, a confused look on her face. Shino gulped as he stepped closer to the girl. He looked at her, getting lost in her eyes, he cleared his throat about to say something when Kurini exclaimed,

"_He just wanted to say thank you…for helping Hinata."_

She smiled sweetly up at her,

"_No problem…I just hope she gets to the ward soon. There was only so much I could do without supplies."_

Shino was about to say something else when Kiba angrily climbed to the top of the stairs. Shino simply smirked at the boy as he flopped against the wall. Sakura looked at Kiba and couldn't help but laugh. He had a huge welt on his head. Akumaru licked it. Sakura shook her head as she walked over to him,

"_Come here."_

Sakura smiled as she flowed her chakra into her hand again and placed it on Kiba's head. He sighed as the pain subsided. He smirked at Shino while Sakura wasn't paying attention he took Sakura's hand in his and exclaimed,

"_Thank you so much Sakura! You are amazing!"_

As he hugged her tightly. She laughed slightly as she blushed,

"_uhhh…thanks Kiba."_

He smirked up at Shino as he tightened his grip on her, he turned his head to the side of her face and pecked a kiss to her cheek. Shino got pissed, he was going to kill him. Sakura cleared her throat,

"_Ah…well ok…your heads fine…"_

She pulled away from him. He frowned as she did, Shino just smiled, he knew that she didn't like him like that. Matter of fact he couldn't recall he liking anyone (not even Sasuke) he smiled knowing that he had a chance with her.

Akumaru yelped in happiness as he jumped at Sakura. She smiled as he licked her face, she picked him up and sat with him towards the front of the balcony and watched as the next two names flashed on the board, Shino and Zaku. She looked back at Shino with a worried expression,

"_please be careful, although his arms seem broken he still has chakra in them…"_

Shino was shocked. She was concerned for him, for his safety. He nodded at her as he walked slowly down to the arena floor with a huge smile on his face…she cared.

Sakura sat with Akumaru and watched Shino's match. Kiba smiled down at his puppy in the girls lap and shook his head slightly. He turned his attention back to the match, the match was over extremely quick due to Sakura's advice. He looked up at her, and nodded his head in her direction. She smiled at him and returned his nod.

The hokage explained to everyone what was to happen during the next stage of the exam. Everyone was sent away to train. Sakura stood up and placed Akumaru in Kiba's arms and said her good byes. She turned and was about to walk away when she saw Shino walk up the stairs. They simply looked at each other. She smiled at him and nodded,

"_Good job Shino!"_

He nodded at her,

"_Thank you Sakura."_

She nodded and started to walk away. She was ambushed by Naruto and his hug which nearly tackled her to the ground. She grumbled as she punched him in the face. Shino smirked under his collar, he loved her temper.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Shino sat on the porch thinking about everything. A lot of time went by, she had been on a mission but that didn't mean that she was far from his mind. He was beyond infatuated with her. They never really talked much but he couldn't help but know that he was attracted to her, she was the first and only person who he could not easily read. There was something about her that interested him, she was so gentle with her patients at the hospital but she also had a fiery temper. He knew that he would never be able to focus knowing that she had the possibility of being injured. He shook his head, clearing that though from his head.

She would be fine, it will be a month since the chunien exams tomorrow, he had to keep a clear head knowing that he had a match,

'_I need to be strong, I need to prove to her that I can protect her.'_

All of a sudden his mother appeared in front of him,

"_Mother?"_

She smiled down at him,

"_I sense there is something on your mind…want to talk about it?"_

She questioned as she sat down beside him. He shook his head. He was never good with dealing his emotions, he never talked about them either. His mother was the only person he actually talked to about most things, he figured this might be the time when his mother's advice could be useful, she was a girl after all.

"_I was just thinking about someone…"_

His mother smiled at him,

"_A girl?"_

He looked up at her and nodded, she was always good at reading him. She smiled,

"_Well why don't you just talk to her?"_

He looked up at her,

"_That's easier said than done Mom, she's been on a mission for a while, she should be back tomorrow for the second stage of the exams…"_

"_Ahhh…so she's a kunoichi? Do I know her?"_

Shino smiled and exclaimed

"_I am sure you do Mom, she's kind of hard to miss…"_

His mom smiled down at him,

"_Alright well the only question your father would want to know is if she's powerful, if she is then he's alright…"_

"_Well she trained with Lady Tsunade, she's the best Medical Ninja in the village."_

His mother smiled, thinking of medic ninja's in the village, her thoughts were interrupted,

"_She saved Hinata during the second stage of the exams…"_

His mom stopped talking for a minute to think, she was starting to put everything together, Hinata was like his sister, she knew who it was and just smiled,

"_Perfect!"_

She exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. She had always loved the pink kunoichi's energy and eagerness to help out others. She was always kind to Shino while all others shunned him. She nodded her agreement with his choice. She smiled,

"_well my dear son I believe that you just have to talk to her, prove to her why she should be with you."_

He just looked at her,

"_well how do I do that?"_

She smiled and exclaimed,

"_I believe that when the time comes you will know."_

She patted his shoulder and walked back into the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Sakura had returned late that night, she was so excited for the next day, she couldn't wait to see all her friends in the exams. She could barely sleep. The next morning couldn't come fast enough for her. She was the first of her friends at the arena. She waited outside, waiting patiently for everyone show up. She decided she mine as well get a head start on her reading. There was a book which she was dying to dive into since she got back. Although to others it may have seemed very stupid to want to read a medical book but to her it was fascinating.

She took a seat and began reading. Only a few minutes had passed when she noticed a small beetle on the ground beside her leg. She smiled and closed her book and placed her hand down on the ground, picking up the tiny insect.

"_What are you doing here buggie-san?"_

She giggled as the bug ran in circles on the palm of her hand. Little did she know that a certain but a certain bug dweller was watching her intensely from a top a tree branch. He smiled down at the girl who held his bug in her hands. She was so preoccupied with the bug that she didn't notice the bug dweller had jumped down and stood in front of her. He cleared his throat,

"_Welcome back Sakura."_

She looked up at him a bit startled by his sudden appearance. She simply smiled up at him,

"_I should have figured this lil guy was your friend."_

She said as the little one on her hand stopped walking and just sat on her finger tip. She smiled as she lifted her hand up, letting the bug go back to his master, but the little bug just stared between both Sakura and Shino, he just stayed on her finger. Shino chuckled slightly while adding,

"_I think he likes you…"_

He stated with a smile, he walked over beside Sakura,

"_May I?"_

He questioned as he motioned for him to sit. She smiled and nodded,

"_Of course."_

He smiled and sat beside her.

"_How was your mission Sakura?"_

She didn't smile like she had before, she looked down at the bug in her hand with a frown on her face,

"_It didn't really go as planned, a lot of stuff happened that we hadn't planned on…"_

Shino just stared at her, he could feel how much that mission had drained her, emotionally. She looked so sad, he felt bad for bringing it up. He placed his hand on her shoulder, she was stunned, she turned to look at him and could feel how sad he was,

"_Don't worry about it Sakura, everyone has a bad mission every now and then."_

She smiled up at him, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. He smiled at her, lightly taking her hand in his,

"_I am positive that you did everything you could to help out your team…"_

She smiled up at him, the bug had perched itself on top of their entwined hands.

"_Thank you Shino…"_

She stated with a smile, face still pink. She took his hand in both her hands, raising them to her face, Shino sat beside her, it was now his turn to get red. She turned his hand over in hers, running her fingers over his palm. He just stared at her, she trailed her finger along a small opening on her palm, when she did that a few of his insects were attracted to the sudden change in chakra and appeared. She smiled down as the bug which was on her hand rushed to rejoin its friends. She giggled as she said good bye to the little one. With that she smiled at him and was about to say something else when she heard someone approach. She smiled and stood up as she saw Kiba, Hinata, Naruto, and Kakashi. Sakura smiled as Naruto rushed towards her.

She laughed as he picked her up in a huge hug. He was always the hugging type. She had to admit she missed him. Shino stood up as his teammates walked over to him, Kiba couldn't help but laugh,

"_So you trying to put the moves on? It's been a month."_

Shino simply shrugged, he and Hinata exchanged their hellos. He embraced Hinata slightly, he had missed her, she was like a sister to him, she was one of the few people he had really connected with. He never had any romantic feelings for her, not that she would care much for him since her sights have always been on Naruto.

He smiled as they were all ushered inside. Everyone was excited to get this going. Shino was beyond nervous, he wanted to show Sakura that he was strong, that he had the potential of being a great prospect in the world of the ninja. He knew that Kiba wasn't about to let up on him. He just kept avoiding, he stood at the top of the balcony as everyone sat down in the bleachers. He couldn't wait to prove that he was worthy of her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

The time had come, his match was here. He walked down to the ground only to have his opponent forfeit the match, this was not how he expected things to go. He slumped back up to the balcony, he was fuming, now how was he going to prove himself to her.

A few matches later, now it was Sasuke and Gaara. Shino stood at the top of the balcony and watched as the match progressed. He noted something was wrong, a genjustu? He released it while keeping himself hidden just in case of an enemy attack. He was content in staying hidden until he heard a cry, he quickly moved to see, Sakura had her head buried under her arms as two ninja were attacking her, he was about to spring into action when Kakashi jumped to her rescue. Shino sighed as she was relieved from danger.

He crouched back down. Regaining his composure. His stared at her as Kakashi summoned a dog, he stared down, confused out of his mind at what was going on until he saw Sakura nod and crawl towards Naruto and Shikamaru. He watched carefully as she woke Naruto, he was nearly quiet it was shocking, considering he usually never stopped talking. She crawled over to Shikamaru and was about to wake him when the dog bit his ankle. Shikamaru yelped while sitting straight up.

"_You released GenJustsu too you faker! Why were you pretending to be asleep?"_

Sakura yelled, Shino just shook his head, he knew that Shikamaru was not one to be bothered with other people's problems. All of a sudden Sakura screamed,

"_Behind you!"_

But it was too late a ninja was about to strike Naruto, when Gui appeared out of nowhere smashing the ninja into the wall behind them, creating a hole in it. Kakashi also appeared and sent them off. Shino was secretly listening to Kakashi tell them what to do, they were supposed to find Sasuke and stop him. Gui questioned,

"_Are they going to be alright?"_

"_They will be fine, Pakku will look after them."_

Kakashi answered, and with that being said Shino vanished,

'_This is my chance, to protect Sakura.'_

Sakura was on the trail of Sasuke, and Shino was on her trail. He knew she was close. She had stopped in front of Sasuke who was nearly passed out as Naruto faced off against Gaara. She knew that he didn't have enough strength to move, she tried to start working on him. Gaara had begun transforming into his one tail form. Unbeknownst to Naruto he had his sights set on Sasuke. He charged at him, about to attack, until Sakura jumped in the way, kunai in hand. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to stop him but she couldn't just stand there and let him attack her teammate.

'_Now's my chance.'_

Thought Shino as he appeared in front of Sakura, releasing his bugs forcing Gaara back. Sakura was shocked to say the least, she looked up slightly as he turned around. Her face showed her confusion,

"_How…"_

Shino interrupted her, reaching over to her shoulder, picking up a tiny insect.

"_When you left the arena I sent with you a beetle, a female beetle, she gives off an intoxicating sent, nothing which you could detect, but the male of the species can,"_

As a beetle appeared from under his collar,

"_And he would follow her anywhere…as I would you Sakura…"_

As he held out his hand, she took it, he helped her stand. She blushed deeply, she had no idea that Shino felt this way for her. She couldn't help but smile at him. He smiled down at her, he was about to say something when Gaara went to attack, Sakura pushed Shino out of the way, with all her strength, he didn't go far, just far enough to get out of the way of Gaara's demon's fist. Gaara pinned Sakura to a tree, with all his strength. This wasn't good, nothing would ever go as planned when it came to Sakura.

He paired up with Naruto and they fought with everything they had to get Sakura back. Although Naruto had known that he and Sakura were never going to be in a relationship, and that was okay with him. She had shown him that there was one person who would do anything for him, Hinata. And once she opened his eyes to that he had seen Sakura in an entirely different light. She had grown so strong over the years, he finally found out about her past, she had let him in just a little. She had told him about how her parents were killed when she was younger and she was taken in by Rin (she hadn't passed away yet) which is the reason why Kakashi had taken her on as a student after Rin passed, he had promised her that he would take care of her.

Naruto had promised Kakashi that he would take care of her, and that was a promise he didn't take lightly. He had no idea that Shino had feelings in general, but hearing how he felt about Sakura made him want to allow Sakura to figure out her feelings for him, he knew that she hadn't had a man in her life ever besides Kakashi. He knew that she needed to have someone who she could come home to. And he would be damned if she never got that.

He and Shino fought Gaara with everything they had, both determined to release her from his clutches. However something that they didn't know was that Sakura was nearly destroying the sand master's thoughts. His mind was racing, he had never understood human relationships, but this was driving him insane. She had stood up to him, knowing full well that she was going to die. Then this guy comes in to protect her, telling her that he would follow her anywhere. But when he went to attack the guy she pushed him out of the way, jumping in front of the bullet for the second time for another guy.

Gaara was so confused, why was she trying to save everyone, she didn't seem really to care for Sasuke, actually quite the contrary she openly admitted that she didn't like him, yet she was still standing up for him. His mind was going crazy, he didn't know what to think. With his mind focused on the girl in front of him he was open for attack. Naruto had summoned his "master toad" and went on the attack, while Shino stayed with Sakura trying to get her out of Gaara's grasp. She groaned lightly as the grip tightened on her. Shino didn't know what to do. He was hyperventilating beyond belief.

"_I'll save you Sakura…I promise…just hold on…"_


End file.
